"We are delighted to have Jim Tikkanen and his team, serving our customers in the Houghton community," said Dale Wirta, district sales manager for Sears Hometown Stores. "They have a knowledgeable team in place with the focus on providing customers with great products, exceptional customer service, and a wonderful store experience."

The Sears Hometown Store in Houghton is the only place in town where customers can find an incredible selection of top appliance brands such as Kenmore, Maytag, KitchenAid, Whirlpool, Bosch, Frigidaire, and GE, plus a large assortment of lawn and garden equipment, Craftsman tools, home electronics, fitness equipment, mattresses, and more!

This Hometown Store packages all the benefits of the Sears company with the pride and support of local ownership. The team in Houghton is excited to provide customers with professional advice, great prices, and exceptional service.

In addition, customers can now order products online and pick them up in the store without a shipping charge. Their friendly team can also assist customers with on-line orders for products not available in the store and will ship to the customer for free. The store will also offer Sears Nationwide Service, Parts, and installation.

"I look forward to being actively involved with other businesses and organizations that support the community," Jim Tikkanen said. "The customers in our community have been very welcoming. I'm excited about the opportunity to provide them with our great products and services."

Sears Hometown and Outlet is a national retailer primarily focused on selling home appliances, hardware, tools, and lawn and garden equipment.

As of April 28, 2012, Sears Hometown and Outlet and its dealers and franchisees operated 1,238 stores across all 50 states and Puerto Rico, Guam, and Bermuda. Sears Hometown and Outlet operates through two segments: the Sears Hometown and Hardware segment and the Sears Outlet segment.

Sears Hometown and Hardware stores are designed to provide customers with in-store and online access to purchase new, one-of-a-kind, out-of-carton, discontinued, obsolete, used, reconditioned, overstocked, and scratched and dented products, across a broad assortment of merchandise categories, including home appliances, lawn and garden equipment, apparel, mattresses, televisions, sporting goods, and tools, and at prices that are significantly lower than manufacturers' suggested retail prices.

Editor's note: This feature is part of a paid advertising package purchased by Sears Hometown Store of Houghton. Businesses interested in being featured on the Business page may call Yvonne Robillard at 483-2220.